Page 33 of Highlander's Wild Lass
“That was a wee bit frightenin’,” Chester said.
“Aye. I didnae like how they crowded ye,” said Hugo. “I was about to pummel the lot of them.”
Celestia scoffed. “Ye would nae fair well against a gaggle of disgruntled men.”
“They were old men, we could’ve taken them,” Chester said, nudging Jacob. “Jacob would have helped too.”
Celestia reached under the counter for the logbook. “Well, thankfully, we didnae have to resort to violence. Let’s let the whisky speak for itself.”
“Aye,let’slet the whisky speak for itself.”
Celestia dropped her grip on the logbook and their heads snapped in the direction of the front door. “What are ye doin’ here, Mr. Koll?” she asked. The anger from weeks ago bubbled up at the sight of him.
“Ye must have forgotten, as weak-minded as I ken women to be, my distillery is a few miles from here.” He folded his arms across his barrel of a chest.
“I didnae forget,” she said resolutely, but she had forgotten. In all her nerves of both fear and excitement of this day, she forgot that the Koll Distillery was just northeast of here, closer to the mouth of the sea.
“Well, if yer here, ye havenae given up on this rubbish dream of takin’ over yer faither’s business, Miss McLean.”
“Clearly.” She fought the urge to roll her eyes.
“I’m sure ye’ll find that I’ve been successful in acquiring some of yer faither’s clients. Absence makes the tongue long for good whisky, and that’s what I have been givin’ every Highlander that is in need.”
Hugo and Chester stepped forward.
“Get out of here, ye clarty bastard,” Chester told him, his voice low. “We daenae need to be hearin’ any empty threats from the likes of ye!”
Mr. Koll snorted. “Empty threats,” he muttered. “Ye better all be watchin’ yer back from now on.”
And with that, Mr. Koll left as silently as he came.
A tightness gripped Celestia’s heart, as she watched Mr. Koll’s figure finally disappear from the last of the large windows and into the mix of people walking the streets of Inverness.
She took a seat, attempting to even out her breath. “Well,” she exhaled, “he certainly has a way with showin’ up out of the clear blue sky.”
“Aye,” Jacob started, “that man came around a lot when yer Da first got sick. He only asks—well, demands is the best word for what he does—to see a list of our customers and once ye tell him nay, he threatens ye a bit and is gone for a while.”
Celestia nodded, hand resting on her neck to feel if her heart rate was slowing.
Hugo had jumped up to sit on the counter beside her and squeezed her shoulder. “All is well, Cellie. With Da’s help—” He pointed to Jacob and smiled, “—and Jacob’s, we will be the most successful distillery in the Highlands.”
“Nay, the whole of Scotland!” Chester exclaimed, slamming a fist on the counter.
Celestia was startled once more, still feeling a bit unsettled by Mr. Koll’s sudden appearance. She did not doubt the man was ruthless, fashioning himself after pirates and the like. She wondered if his threats were not as empty as Jacob assumed.
“Speakin’ of customer lists, yer Da would probably want me to show ye the other list,” Jacob said.
“The other list?” Celestia asked, brows raising.
The twins shared a perplexed look between them.
“What other list?” she asked again.
Jacob nodded, his wide mouth in a grim line. “Lock the door, and I’ll show ye.”
After the door was locked, they followed close behind Jacob as he crept behind the long counter and knelt on the creaking floorboards. He pulled away a false cabinet door to expose a centuries-old lockbox.
He made quick work of a small iron key and pulled open the door, exposing a pile of coins, a small dusty bottle of whisky, and a logbook thinner than the one Celestia had been working from all afternoon.
